During the Christmas season, Hazelwood Early Learning participated in a giving campaign. Together with the wonderful families in our centre, we were able to donate 241lbs of food to Share Society in Coquitlam. In addition, we were able to donate many bags of clothing, blankets, and toys to this wonderful organization.

This campaign involved not only the donations, but also discussions and reflecting with the children on what it means to give, to be generous, and to be fortunate. The children voiced that they thought the children, and their families, who would receive our donations would feel “so happy they will cry.” They showed great pride, creating special wrapping paper for the donation box, and bringing new donations in with their moms and dads.

Again, thank you so much to our families who participated in this campaign. We were overwhelmed with your generosity, and the selfless nature your children displayed.

A few of you may have noticed (or heard) that Superhero Robin has been busy at Hazelwood after hours. The children were delighted to find a large box outside – perfect for filling with sand! They anxiously awaited for the sand to be delivered. Together they waited on the outdoor blanket, watching the truck back the sand closer and closer towards the sandbox.

“What if it misses the box?” One child asked, concerned. However, the truck didn’t miss. In fact, after receiving two other deliveries not too long ago (one for garden dirt, the other for bark mulch) the dump truck seems quite at home at Hazelwood.

ps. Superhero Robin was also in to build and install a new bookshelf – hooray! Thank you Robin! Our books on the School-Age side now have a home 🙂

With this long dry heat wave in our province, the gardens have been blasted with plenty of sunshine and constant watering. It has been growing fast and furious. Sadly, the precious sunflower is not surviving the transplant. We expect to harvest the first crop of radishes and lettuce in the next week or so.

Today the children worked on dying strips of white fabric outside. They helped to fill spray bottles with dye and water, and then to cover the fabric with their choice of colours. We have visions of hanging smaller sections of this fabric from the trees outside! What a fun way to practice fine motor muscle and eye-hand coordination.

The wonder of it was evident in the reactions from the children when colour blending! The biggest challenge was ensuring our spray bottles were not aimed at others and that their bodies were not down wind of the spray.

Check out the progress so far..

We’re also extending our garden to the school-aged side of Hazelwood. You may have noticed new planters out front, which the children creatively painted today. The older children will plant and tend to new vegetables in these garden pallets.